Taken Birds
by Nigel Yearning
Summary: When the birds tried to get their eggs back from the pigs, they were attacked by the Dark Presence. Meanwhile, an OC does his best to help the birds through his writing. What turned out were unexpected results.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

The beautiful countryside of Bright Falls, Red Bird stares over the Caldron Lake and marveled at its beauty. His fellow Angry Bird team stood beside him and watched as the sun was hovering above the horizon, ready to set soon. Black Bird, Yellow Bird, White Bird, and Blue Bird had voted well, this beats home where they had to defend their eggs almost every single day.

This is beautiful, thought Red Bird, I wish I grew up here.

After being harassed by the pigs in order to get the bird's eggs, they decided to take a break from it all and come to the Pacific Northwest in a small little town of Bright Falls, Washington. Words cannot describe the nature and beauty of the forest and land of the region, for the birds, Caldron Lake was the most beautiful.

As lovely the scenery was, settling camp away from humans was an important priority. Poachers and legal hunters were a hazard to look into, hearing that they take no sympathy for what they hunt had them worried a bit. Luckily, they were in an area of Caldron Lake less frequented by human beings. Out of sight and out of mind was the idea, and it was helping them well.

Since living off the land was a skill they dearly cherished, the birds fare well in this environment. Lots of room to roam around and enough room to play. Of course, they gotta protect their eggs as always. Three eggs, laid a couple of weeks prior, was brought with them. Thinking that there were no pigs nearby, they had their back turned and left their eggs unwatched in the nest behind them. All it took was a small oink to get their attention.

Pulling away from the iconic view of the lake, they turn around and saw the nest empty. All the birds screamed, this wasn't good at all. In their disbelief, they saw what appear to be King Pig and several minions running off with their precious eggs. They were all laughing, the familiar laughter bounce around inside the birds mind like a rubber ball.

Red Bird felt the familiar rage build up inside him as the other birds follow suit, King Pig had a great distance ahead of them and they were already getting away. Seeing that none of the birds were running off to chase them, Red Bird made the first move and ran after them. Seeing Red Bird chasing the pigs, eventually made the rest of the birds follow behind.

Seeing that they were being chased, the pigs get a move on. And after running at least 100 meters, they reached the safety of their castle. A small medieval-style castle, crudely made out of stone that probably came from Mirror's Peak nearby. The birds just wanted a nice and quiet vacation from their enemies, now they had followed them there, to keep up the pressure. Filled with rage, the birds set to work in building a slingshot.

The work took the remainder of the day, a remainder that the birds wanted to enjoy with sleep. Attacking a pig stronghold at night was nothing new, they had done it several times in the past. Even without the presence of most of the night-time stars, the birds found themselves at a disadvantage with a waxing crescent moon up in the sky. The moonlight was enough for anyone with night-vision to see them from a good distance away.

This doesn't matter since the pigs already knew exactly where the birds are, they had set up their slingshot out in the open as always. The giant slingshot was soon set up and the birds all lined up behind it, Red Bird got on first since he was the leader and pulled back on the elastic band.

Here goes nothing. thought Red Bird as he let the slingshot's elastic band propel him forward.

"Gnahh Yee-Haw!" he roared as he soared through the air and slammed into the stone wall of the castle.

Red Bird bounced off of it as if it was nothing, and landed on the ground in a world of hurt.

"Ooh." said the pigs inside with pity.

"Ha ha!" laughed King Pig.

As Red Bird crawled back to his friends, Yellow Bird made his turn. He got onto the slingshot and shoot himself at the castle, even using his speed ability didn't crack the stone walls of the castle. When he fell back to earth, Blue Bird gave it a go. He launched himself into the air, and somehow multiplied himself into three identical clones before impacting against the castle.

This time, they were able to make a crack, nothing more. As the blue bird trio returned to the group, Black Bird got onto the slingshot and pulled back onto it.

Out of nowhere, a loud mournful cry roared across the land. Causing Black Bird to miss fire and slammed against the base of the slingshot, he groaned as he flopped onto the ground with every molecule of air knocked out of his lungs. He didn't feel the pain from the blow, all the other birds soon forgotten the ache they received from kamikaze themselves at the castle from the terrible sound.

The pigs were also scared by the sound, both sides froze in place and listened. The wind was blowing, odd, it wasn't suppose to blow in the weather forecast. That's not all, dark clouds move en-sync with the wind, partially blocking off the moonlight. All the birds gathered in a tight ball and held each other, they all shivered as unnatural shadows engulf the castle.

Something growled, the earth began to vibrate as the shadows covering the pig's castle's outline grew. Realizing this wasn't good, King Pig shot out of the entrance as a couple of large pigs and a couple of armor pigs followed behind. The front doors slammed shut as whatever entity was present roared with the sound of thunder, the birds just stood there in shock, their beaks dropped open as they hear the screams of helpless swine trapped in the very stronghold that was suppose to protect them.

The castle crumbled, but gravity played no role. The pieces of the castle hovered mid-air, twitching and groaning for a moment, before hurling themselves at the birds.

"AAHHH!" screamed Red Bird.

He took off, and his friends quickly followed him as the rubble of the castle try to bury them.

. . .

The roar was faint when Fred Dominican heard it, the sound was all to familiar in his ears. He sat up from his bed and grabbed the MagLITE flashlight on his nightstand, then grabbed the 9 mm he kept underneath his pillow.

Fred was in his early-fifties, he was a former electrician in Bright Falls Power & Light, and he was also a writer. He written many books in the past twenty years, mostly about the supernatural. Strangely, his books seem to depict similar events that happened all over the United States, its what happens when you write anything near Caldron Lake.

Just when he realized the power of the lake, he soon made an encounter with the Dark Presence. It didn't touch him in an effort to take over his mind, if that happened then another Alan Wake would happen all over again. Seeing how the town was in danger from this Dark Presence, Fred took up arms and turned his trailer near Mirror's Peak into a safe haven of the light.

First he put nightlights that turn into flashlights during a power outage in every room, next he lined each and every room with blue-white LED tube lights. This made sure that not a single corner had a "shadow" for the Dark Presence to take a foothold in. Interestingly enough, he kept finding caches of supplies around Caldron Lake that are suited in fighting the Dark Presence. He managed to gather some battery-operated work-lights and placed them behind every window of his house from the inside, since there was enough room for them.

With the inside secure, Fred installed the same LED tube lights design on the outside of his trailer, making sure that he got every edge of it. With that done, he managed to build a garage to house his Bright Falls Lights & Power utility truck. He always kept the internal lights on when not using, so the Dark Presence won't take possession of it. He knew that wasn't good enough, so the garage was fitted with a ceiling lamp that illuminated the inside of the garage 24/ 7.

Realizing that the power grid would be a target by the Dark Presence, Fred installed an energy storage unit in his property's cellar, then connect it to the fuse box in his trailer. He had all the cables buried, in order to protect them. He then installed a small vertical-axis wind turbine on his roof, it had a magnetic base, making it friction-free when the slightest wind blows on it. Last, he covered whatever empty space on the roof with state of the art solar panels, completing his off the grid project.

Fred managed to buy himself some light-sensitive paint at the hardware store, it remained invisible when applied but glows bright orange when a direct lightsource hits it. With the pain, he painted the Bright Falls Lights & Power logo on the face of his trailer, just next to the front door.

The back of his trailer had thick woods behind it, blocked off by a chain-linked fence. The front however, was an open clearing that stretch no more than 50 square meters. Beyond that was more trees, and hidden shadows.

Fred opened the door and walked down the hall, the LED tube lights that lined the corners and door frames of each room illuminated the place with a blue glow. He approached the front door and disengaged the door chain, hotel security latch, a dead-bolt lock that activates latches that springs out into the door frame like a safe door, the regular lock on the doorknob, a steel crossbar that sits on hooks next to the door frames, and finally, a door bar that pins itself between the doorknob and floor.

He opened the front door and looked past the custom-made screen door and looked out into the darkness beyond. He turned off the specialized out door lamp above the door and waited, whatever was out there won't show themselves with the light on.

Nothing outside moved, nor did he sense the supernatural's warning signs. The Dark Presence must be focused on something at the moment, probably capturing more unsuspecting creatures to use as puppets. He had no neighbors living nearby, but he could tell that the Dark Presence was after something other than him tonight, there was no reason it would roar if not.

"Whatever soul is being chased this night," said Fred to himself, I wish them good luck."

Something shift in the bushes and Fred turned back on the porch light in response, the bushes stopped moving almost immediately. Fred shut the front door and re-engaged all of its locks and latches, then heads back to bed to retire for the night.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

If any bird see something they don't recognized, they tend to become afraid of it. They either fly away or fight back, the natural fight or flight response for any animal. The Angry Birds were used to being in control, having a foothold over the pigs when getting their eggs back. Now they encountered a new enemy that had expectantly killed several pigs and destroyed their fortifications, this was a whole new different ball game and the Angry Birds were more scared than mad.

They continue to run, the poltergeist of debris trying to get them every time they were right up to their tails. Thankfully they were gaining ground faster than the poltergeist and soon lost them all together when they ran into the woods.

The birds managed to find their way at the other side and took a moment to catch their breath, Red Bird pants as he counted all the birds that were here. They hadn't lost anyone, Red Bird sighed as he looked back the way he came, he saw that nothing was following them.

What the hell was that? Red Bird thought.

Something shift in the bushes. The birds alert levels skyrocket from the sound. After facing the horror that the pigs couldn't withstand, all birds consider that it was hiding in the bushes. The flock huddled together as Red Bird went in and pulled some of the bushes back, he saw nothing.

Mind must be playing tricks on me, thought Red Bird, Keep it together Red Bird.

A sharp snort was heard, it came behind the flock. All the birds turned and saw what appeared to be a pig, standing near the bushes. Something was wrong, dark oily shadows covered his body to the point where the birds could barely make out its face. Mixed emotions came over the birds, one emotion respond from seeing the pig but another emotion respond from seeing the darkness that covered him.

Red Bird's instinct was to attack, and so he charged at the pig as he came towards the flock. He head-bashed the pig hard, knocking him airborne before slamming into a tree with a loud thud. The pig flopped to the ground, lay still for a brief second, before getting right back up. The birds were surprised that the pig wasn't harm, which means they lost the advantage. Just as if anything couldn't get any worse, more shrouded pigs came out of the darkness, screaming loud demonic pig noises.

When the pig that Red Bird had attacked pulled out an ax, the birds took off into the savanna and ran for dear life. These possessed pigs soon began chased, the birds scream as they ran in panic. They had no point of destination in mind, they were just running blindly, all they just want was to get away and worry where they're at later.

Up ahead, the birds saw an outdoor lamp glowing brightly near a dirt road skimming a forest, instincts told the bird to rush towards it, and so they did. A hatchet whizzed by and landed on the ground near them, another nearly struck Black Bird in the rear. It was too close for comfort, which forced the birds to get a move on. They barely managed to reach the trail and stumble under the light, Red Bird nearly tripped before he was the last to reach it.

Amazingly their instincts told them right, they watch as the small group of shadow pigs dissolved into the night. The birds found themselves alone, whatever was chasing them was now gone. For the moment, the birds were safe, but they weren't alone for long.

Nearby, they saw King pig and his servants running down the road. Behind them was a small jeep, shrouded in shadows. The birds stepped aside as King Pig and his servants ran into the light, everyone jumped out of the way as the light hits the possessed human vehicle. Upon contact with the light, the vehicle made an impossible stop and it was engulf in yellow electricity, then it vanished without a trace.

It was light, thought Red Bird, In the light, we can hurt them!

The pigs took a moment to redeem themselves, after catching their breath they turned their attention towards the birds. Both sides soon on opposite ends of the light, glaring at each other with hate and suspicion. The birds never trusted them, nor do they wanna work with them. The pigs shared similar thoughts, yet they were the ones who started all this and couldn't work up much hate for the birds.

The lightbulb above their heads began to flicker, the group watched as the bulb protecting them exploded. Now in the dark, the entity began to make its move once again. When the shadows and wind began moving, so does the birds and pigs. They ran down the road and ran deep into the woods, they continued going until they found what appeared to be a shack up ahead. It was a shack made by humans, built on the side of the dirt road, and the lights were on. Thinking that there might be someone inside, the group rushed towards the shack and burst through the door.

To their dismay, no one was inside. The shadows collecting outside made the group rush in, and slam the door behind them. When they do, all activity outside ceased.

Now truly save, the group got a look around their surroundings. The shack was a bit small, it only contained a workbench, a cot, and an old radio sitting on a metal barrel. The light they saw from the window awhile outside was actually coming out of a kerosine lamp, and it proved bright. There was more, there was a chair at the far end of the shack. An Energizer-brand flashlight sat on it, along with a couple of batteries. Red Bird walked up to it and grabbed the flashlight and turned it on, it gave off a powerful beam of light.

"Ahhh." said Red Bird, amazed what he was seeing.

He turned off the flashlight and grabbed the extra batteries, and stuffed them into the mesh of his feathers. King Pig approached the nearby radio and turned it on, a human voice came out of it almost immediately.

"This is your local night host, Pat Maine," said the voice, "I can tell you that this is one of those beautiful nights, might as well lay on the grass and watch the stars twinkle over your head. Okay, caller. You're now on KBF Radio."

"Hey Pat," said another voice, "It's Deputy Mulligan."

"Well, hello Mulligan," said Pat, "What are you doing up tonight, on break from the nightshift?"

"Sort of," said Mulligan, "It gets lonely out here, if it gets quiet enough you might as well feel like you're being watched."

"I know that feeling all to well."

"Yeah, I just got done from investigating a graffiti incident near the local GameStop. Someone had spray-painted what looked like... a cardinal, or whatever damn species this red bird is."

"Wait, so you're saying that someone spray-painted a red bird near the local GameStop?"

"It looked more of a cartoon character than a real bird, like the Waldo graffiti near the book store about a month ago. Probably the same kids, its a real pain cleaning up artwork like this around this time of the year. Paint has a habit of flaking off when applied in cold weather once it dries."

"Well, I wish you luck Mulligan. Its going to get cold in the next few days."

"Thank you Pat, I have to go now."

"Okay Mulligan, I'll see you the next morning."

With that, Mulligan hanged up his phone.

"Heh, heh, some night timers are finding it hard getting through the night," said Pat, "Here's a little song I've picked out for you, I just hope it settles in for the mood tonight for all of you love birds."

Music began to play on the radio, it sounded calming and reassuring. Its what the group needed after what they had been through. Despite the birds and pigs being foes, they can co-exist for the time being. They had lost their eggs, so there was nothing they could use against the birds. The pigs kept to themselves and huddled right up to one wall as the birds huddled up to the other. Once they got comfortable, both sides managed to fall asleep under the protective glow of the kerosine lamp.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

The sun had risen again, and Fred woke in response of its light, easily passing through the security bars of his windows. Not only were there security bars, the glass had been lased with security film on both sides. No one can't see in from the outside, but anyone inside can see easily outside. Fred thought it would be impossible for anyone to be watching him through those windows, but his paranoia of the Dark Presence had him thinking of installing lights above the windows outside.

He got out of bed and head for the bathroom where he took a shower, shaved, brushed his teeth, and do his business. Once all that was done, he headed back to his bedroom where he got dressed in his usual clothing. A sweater, carpenter pants, a bulletproof vest, and steeled-toed military boots. He then stashed his personal tools and weapons in his holsters: An LED 110 lumen flashlight, a 9 mm pistol, and extra batteries and ammunition.

Finally, he puts on his Bright Falls Power & Light windbreaker. Fred looked at himself in the mirror and puts on his Bright Falls Power & Light hat, clearly this was going to be a long day.

He heads outside and walked over to his garage, Fred unlocked the gate to the garage and pushed it aside. Realizing that he'd forgotten something, Fred rushed back into the trailer and approached the gun-rack in his bedroom. He grabbed the M1 Garand off the rack and a box of 30 caliber ammunition from the nearby dresser, Fred returned outside with the weapon and got back to his truck. He stashed the rifle underneath the cab area, along with the ammunition.

With everything set, Fred got behind the wheel, turned off the internal lights, locked the doors, put on the safety belt, and started up the engine. "Get light fixtures, electrical wires for the fixtures, install them," said Fred to himself, "Do it all before dark."

Fred drove out of the garage and down the gravel road towards the front gate of his property, he never really locks it or anything, all he does is slow down and nudge the gate open with his truck. He designed the gate to be rammed open if necessary, he also had an outdoor lamp over it so the Dark Presence wouldn't touch it. The gate closed itself as Fred headed for the main road to Bright Falls, it was only a 20 minute drive, not that far.

Driving down the deserted highway and past a couple of bridges, Fred made it to Bright Falls and found his way to the Bright Falls General Store. He parked his truck and made his way inside, then got a shopping basket and loaded it with outdoor lamps, just the same amount he had for his windows. The lamps were white and it had chrome at the inside of its lampshade, increasing light output. Purchasing it all cost about 75 dollars, which was around Fred's budget.

With it all bought and stashed in the cab of the truck, Fred figured he would take a look around and check on everything in Bright Falls. So he locked his truck and headed off to downtown.

"Nothing seemed out of the ordinary," said Jack to himself, "Nothing wrong around here."

He kept on going down the sidewalk, passing the Oh Deer Diner along the way. Near the local town's GameStop, seeing a patrol car nearby with flashing lights. Fred could see Mulligan photographing something on the side of the brick wall, when he approached something red caught his eye. He stopped, his shoe skid on the sidewalk in the process. He turned and saw a red cardinal cartoon character on the wall.

It was round, no limbs or anything, it had a sneer look in its eyes and a wicked grin. A flashback sank deep into Fred, as if he was sucked into a black hole. He remembered the Waldo graffiti at the bookstore, and a few nights later, saw a man that looked just like Waldo laying face down near Caldron Lake. An ax embedded in his forehead, the body soon vanished when Fred had his back turned, along with the ax.

"Damn kids and their favorite game characters," said Mulligan, "The youth around here won't stop talking about Angry Birds in the past year, I hate it when kids express their creativeness on public property. Might as well do it at Caldron Lake Lodge."

"Yes," said Fred, "How unfortunate."

The Deputy took one last photo of the graffiti and checks the photos he shot, deleting what he think are the bad ones, "Whoever done this will probably be upset when the sanitation crew blast it away with a pressure washer, it probably took them an hour or two just to make it. This might kept Sheriff Breaker going for awhile, since there wasn't much happening in town in the past few weeks."

"Take care, Mulligan." said Fred.

"Sure." said Deputy Mulligan nonchalantly.

As the deputy climbs back into his squad car and drove away, Fred stared at the artwork for another moment. "This isn't going to be good," he said to himself, "Not good."

Fred heads back to his truck and got back in, he drove out of town and headed back for home. The picture of the bird was still glued to his mind, like a rash that never goes away. He knew the power of Caldron Lake well, Fred knew whatever works of art created near the lake will come true. If this comes true, then there's a chance that two different worlds will merge together as one. Whatever kind of chaos that could happen, Fred wanna be sure that he was ready for another fight.

Once he got home, he went straight into installing the lamps over the windows. He turned off the power and went straight to work on installing the lights. Since he was an electrician, it took him all day to get the installed and tt was a lot of electrical wiring. Fred simply did the electrical wiring on the outside of his trailer, since the outside skin easily comes off. He snaked the wires through drilled holes that was used for other wires and carefully snaked them into the appropriate areas before putting the skin back on.

After cutting out the holes, Fred installed the lamps and screwed them all in place. He finally installed durable outdoor LED light-bulbs into each and every socket, they were durable so they would resist the Dark Presence's power. With everything done, Fred turned back on the power and flipped the switch that activated the light fixtures. All of them glowed brightly as they were designed to.

"Placing a safe haven of light at every window," said Fred to himself, "That replaces the work-lights I used that only removes the dark shrouds off of the Taken, these lamps will kill the Taken outright if turned on at the right moment."

Fred heads back inside and walked into his study. There was a wooden desk at the back wall, and on it was an electric typewriter, a laptop, and a printer, all hooked up to a emergency battery. A chair, designed for comfort, was scooted underneath the desk. Above the desk was a lamp fixture which focuses all of its light just above the desk and chair, he had it turned on when writing on the typewriter to prevent the Dark Presence from touching him, and use him for its own bidding.

He only writes when he had too, in fact, he was careful when writing his books since he knew they would come true. Fred took a deep breath as pulled up the office chair and sat in it, he positioned himself behind the typewriter and fed a blank sheet of paper into it. Fred knew that the Angry Birds would come to life, he had to find a way to have them come to him.

Though he doubted his existence, he was not taking any chances. If the Dark Presence get a hold of them, there's no telling what kind of damage the entity would do when using them in their Taken form. A short story was necessary to make sure of the bird's safety.

"Okay my feathered-friends," he said as he began typing away on the typewriter, "Lets see what old Dominican can do for you."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

A whole day went by and the birds and pigs were trying their best to get along, suffice to say that words couldn't describe the bitterness between the two factions. Food and water were major priorities, and the shack they're at had little of it. The birds and pigs knew where to look, but the fact they had to cooperate wasn't sitting well in their minds.

Eventually, their hate towards each other caused them to waste precious time, they stayed in the shed till night falls once again. Red Bird knew this was bad, a part of him was beginning to tell him to work together with the pigs. He knew he couldn't fight back the urge for long.

The kerosine lamp that was lighting the place threatened to go out by dimming greatly, eventually Red Bird had enough and turned on his scavenged flashlight before heading out the door. Seeing their friend leave made the birds panic, and they rushed out after him. The pigs, not wanting to be left alone, was not far behind.

Red Bird marched down the darkened road with his flashlight beam leading the way, the other birds were persistent on trying to get their friend to turn back and return to the shelter they already had. Red Bird continued to refuse, he simply ignored them as he kept right on walking. Suddenly, he stopped. The beam of his flashlight had caught something interesting.

It was an arrow, painted on a tree, Red Bird followed the arrow as his friends and enemies had no choice but to follow him. Red Bird continued walking until he reached a dead end, just a pile of large boulders in a horseshoe shaped formation. Inside the landmark, Red Bird revealed an orange torch with a circle around it, they were painted in a light-sensitive paint. Below was a trunk, the trunk had the logo on it along with the words "Bright Falls Power & Light."

Red Bird opened up the chest, and was stunned to what he found. Flares, flash-bang grenades, flashlights, and batteries, everything you need to get through the night. The cache was, as if, left here for someone like the group to use. Red Bird wasn't sure what would have happened if he didn't find the chest.

He began to take stuff out of it and passed it around throughout the group, there were enough flashlights that every bird and pig got one. Red Bird's flashlight accidentally revealed a message also written in light-sensitive paint as he shift it, it reads: "The Darkness controls the Taken!"

Taken, Red Bird thought, Taken by what?

The group stared at it for a brief moment before turning to leave where they had came, it just so happened that there were Taken pigs right there waiting for them. They were armed with axes and hunting knives, and they were all closing in. The group screamed as Red Bird shined his flashlight at one of them, that was when something gave.

The darkness covering the Taken was burning away within contact of Red Bird's flashlight, it went down quick, the shadows flashed off the Taken's body revealing dark hollow eyes with pupils glowing bright red. Red Bird kept the flashlight trained at the pig and felt horror seeped down his throat, it was brief as the Taken soon burst into static light before vanishing a second later.

Now they knew how to fight them, they had to use light. When the group got the message loud and clear, they all shined their flashlights at the Taken and fought back. The possessed pigs found themselves being stripped of their darkness before becoming pure energy, then disappear without a trace of their existence. It took half a minute to eliminate the threat, when finished the group rushed over to where the Taken had collapsed and vanished, stumped at what happened to their bodies.

There's nothing left, thought Red Bird, Weapon in all, nothing. What is going on here?

Eggs being stolen was one problem the birds were used to, but seeing their foe had just disappeared made them wondered if they're really dead. They were hail-bent on killing them with an ax, behaved like monsters in the form that they were used to dealing. The pigs thought similar, seeing one of their own turned against them was pure defiance of the king. Truth was, they weren't pigs anymore, they may look like pigs but that was simply a thin layer of skin hiding the darkness that controls them.

Red Bird thought about the eggs, King Pig had left the eggs at the fort where it was taken over by this darkness. It broke the castle into puzzle pieces and used them in an effort to bury the birds alive. If the darkness could do that, what else can it do? Red Bird didn't wanna find out, so he head off back to the road as the group followed him from behind. King Pig rushed up beside him and walked in the same pace, then they moved on down the road.

The nerves of the group were on edge, being in the dead of autumn meant no bug activity, as it was too cold for them to be active tonight. A nearby owl hooted, Red Bird reacted by aiming his flashlight into the trees above him. He could barely see the moon breaking through the brown leaves, the lack of moonlight felt unnerving to him. Red Bird sensed his fellow friends and rivals feel the same.

The group continued down the road and eventually found a Y intersection, there were two signs pointing towards each road. The one pointing left was Bright Falls, the other pointed to Caldron Lake. Red Bird turned and looked at the group, he clearly showed the expression of, "Which way do you want to go?" look.

The birds and pigs can read, they just don't know which way to go. As they stood there and thought for a moment, they saw a vehicle with bright headlights coming down the road to Bright Falls. Eventually the group rushed towards the way to Caldron Lake, in fear of being caught and trapped by humans. The car past by where they once stood, it continued on without noticing them.

They continued down the road without much obstacles blocking their way, its when they stumbled into a massive roadblock of logs where they began to have problems. Seeing that there's no way over the logs, Red Bird and King Pig led the group around the barricade. As they made their way through the vegetation, Red Bird spotted something in the middle of a clearing. Curious, he wondered off towards it.

Seeing that Red Bird found something, the group followed him, when they got to the edge of the clearing they saw a familiar sight. Three eggs, sitting perfectly in a nest. It was too good to be true that the eggs were found.

The eggs! Red Bird thought, Oh god, its the eggs!

The sight of the eggs made Red Bird leap in joy as he rushed towards it, the Blue Bird trio followed behind him as the rest of the group were confused. Something wasn't right.

Red Bird learned that the hard way when he was just within arm's reach, suddenly he heard something landed behind him. He turned around and saw a Taken pig before him, soon several other pig Taken were appearing out of the darkness, surrounding Red Bird and the Blue Birds. It was too painful to realize, it was a trap.

The group rushed in and helped Red Bird as he tried to hold off the large pig Taken with his flashlight, they all try to swarm him in an effort to lodge an ax in his forehead. As the group fought on, three pig survivors came out of the bushes. Awhile everyone was distracted, they scooped up the eggs and left without a moment's notice. Yellow Bird caught them in the act and squawked at them for a little bit, just before a hatchet whizzed by his head. The ax landing in front of him made him turned his attention back to the fight.

Red Bird managed to kill a Taken as an armor pig backed him up, he caught sight of another Taken coming up behind King Pig and readied itself to chop his head in half. Acting quickly, Red Bird shined the flashlight into the Taken's eyes, stunning it. King Pig turned around and saw the Taken just before it vaporized into a lightshow. He turned to Red Bird and nod before resuming, seems that relations had just improved.

Within minutes, the group managed to kill all the Taken with cooperation from each other's faction. As the last Taken was killed, the group turned their attention back to the nest that attracted Red Bird. It was empty, and they instinctively glared at King Pig and his minions. They all shook their heads, but Yellow Bird pointed out pig tracks leading out of the clearing. None of the pigs had left the group, which means there are pigs that had survived the attack of the castle now acting independently.

Red Bird had lost all the rage he had in him, another emotion had replaced it. It was guilt, he realized he nearly got the entire group killed for this selfish act. Getting back the eggs is one things, but no one wants to carry them awhile being chased by mindless demons. When adding up all these factors, Red Bird began to cry.

I'm not going to see the eggs again. he thought.

Just as one of the Blue Birds pat him on the back, he sucked it up and began to follow the trail. The birds' instincts soon told them to follow Red Bird, and they do. The pigs soon followed them from behind, wanting to see what they were going to do when they managed to find the eggs. For the time being, the birds found themselves lifted from the nightmare for just a moment in an effort to retrieve their lost eggs.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

A pile of manuscript pages was growing on Fred's desk as he typed out sheet after sheet, it was already 1 AM and he already had a few manuscript pages done. These, he decided, would help the the birds greatly, wherever they are. If they hadn't existed then, they do now.

He was ready to go to bed, call it a night. He turned off the typewriter and was just about to turn off the light when he heard a roar outside. Fred realized it was the Dark Presence was going to try to get him again, wasting no time at all, he heads to his bedroom and grabbed the pump-action shotgun from the rack. He turned on its 100 lumen tactical light and loaded the gun with 12 gauge shells.

Fred grabbed his Heavy-Duty portable spotlight and turned it on, it gave off a powerful beam of light that was more than needed. Since the Dark Presence's strength varies from time to time, there's no telling what level it will use to attack him.

He turned on the window lights and the porch light before stepping outside, Fred let the screen door slam behind him as he walked into the field with his shotgun out and ready. He walked about 30 meters into the field before stopping, then waited. An eerie silence had already taken hold, but that won't last for long. From the edge of the woods, Fred saw faint shadows coming together. Shadowy human figures came walking out, armed with axes, nail boards, nail bats, and machetes. They appear to be hunters, but now they are just servants of darkness, known as The Taken.

"Hunting requires a hunting license!" one of them bantered as it came running at Fred with a logging ax.

Fred aimed his spotlight at the Taken, it shielded its eyes as the light burns away its darkness. When it came down, Fred fired a couple of rounds at it and it dissolved into fragments of light. Another Taken tried to outflank him but was soon blinded by light, its dark shroud flashed off before a deer slug round send it to hell. Another Taken came moving through the land at impossible speeds, Fred managed to stun the tele-flanking Taken with his spotlight and removed its dark shroud. Once down, Fred fired a shot at it and it dies immediately.

A Taken threw its hatchet at Fred, he managed to dodge it as it flies past his head. Fred aimed his flashlight at the Taken and burned away its dark cocoon, then finished it off with a shotgun blast. The Taken burst into a million crystal dandelions before vanishing without a trace.

Fred stood still, and listened for the slightest movement. After a few seconds of silence, Fred made a dodge-roll before an ax came chomping down where he stood. He turned around and saw a muscular logger Taken pulled the ax head out of the ground before charging at him, Fred shined his spotlight into its eyes and stunned the beast as he proceed to remove its dark shroud.

When it flashed off its body, Fred fired several rounds into it before the Taken burst into static and vanished without a trace. It was a close call, but it was not uncommon. Fred experiences that on occasion, calculated about once a month. Its all part of the job, you gotta be used to almost getting your head chopped off all the time.

The area was now clear of Taken, or so it seemed. Fred kept his guard up and scanned the edges of his property with his spotlight, looking for signs of unnatural shadows. If light can't negotiate whatever it is reflecting off of, chances are that object is possessed by the Dark Presence. If sparks fly when light hits it, then that would mean its possessed. The Dark Presence never usually hides its traps, since a clever mind can sense evil there's no point on hiding anything.

For Fred, his senses did not detect any signs of the Dark Presence. Seeing that the battle was now over, Fred turned towards his trailer and headed back inside. Once indoors, he re-engaged all the locks and latches on his front door. He let out a yawn as he walked into his bedroom and simply flopped onto the bed, he falls asleep 20 minutes later.

. . .

Fred wasn't the only person who was having a rough night, Deputy Mulligan was driving back to the police station for overtime. With Deputy Thornton chewing his ear about the Red Bird graffiti, he wanted to clear his mind of frustration for once, settle back and rethink his next move. To do that, he needed some pain-relief medication and a cup of coffee.

Once he got back to the Bright Falls Police Station, he lets himself in through the backdoor and walked into the offices. He sat down at his desk and fumbled through a cabinet for Solpadeine Tablets under the dim lights of the police station, he managed to find a couple and added them to a cup of water. As the water breaks down the tablets awhile releasing their fizz, Mulligan poured himself a cup of coffee. Mulligan took the Solpadeine-laced water and drank it all, almost immediately the sharp pain in his head began to subside.

As he sat down the cup, his eyes stumbled across a picture sitting on his desk. It was a picture of the entire police department, one deputy in the picture caught his attention: Deputy Dominican.

Jack Dominican was Fred Dominican's brother. He was a swell guy, an expert, more sane than his brother. Dominican had been on the force for several years, and was well respected by the community. He and his brother were close, so when Deputy Dominican disappeared, Fred became shy and never spend that much time in Bright Falls. Mulligan never knew exactly how Dominican disappeared, all he knew was that he vanished during a massive power outage.

Mulligan took a sip of coffee, it was stale, so stale that he resist the urge to spit it out. "God," he thought, "Note to self, never let Thornton make the coffee ever again."

He sat the cup of coffee aside and focused his attention to his computer, Mulligan opened up his e-mail and found there was a new message. He clicked on the message and discovered it came from Paul Randolph, it reads:

_Mulligan,_

_I know you probably seen the graffiti about that bird brain near GameStop, I had to say maybe the same artists who made it had made this – green pig, on one of my trailers at Sparkling River Estates. They were generous enough to leave a carton of a dozen chicken eggs beneath it, odd, normally they would use eggs to vandalize something. It would be a lot better for them to coat one of my trailers with eggs other than paint on them, as spray-paint is hard to remove once dried. Tell Mark at the General Store to see who recently bought spray-paint of various colors. If he come up dry, check on Watery to see what they could find. _

_This is going to cost me a lot of money Mulligan, I'm not an all fan of Angry Birds but I can tell you I don't like those who are a fan of Angry Birds. Help me on this, will you?_

_Mr. Randolph_

Mulligan grumbled as he wrote a reply:

_I'll see what I could do Randolph, I'll track those damn kids down._

_Mulligan_

Deputy Mulligan sent the e-mail and went back to finishing up his paperwork. He tried his best not to pay attention to the photos of the Red Bird graffiti he took lying on the desk, he had enough artwork for one day. He took another sip of Solpadeine-laced water before getting back to work.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

They walked in a great length, yet the group was still following the trail. Red Bird was determined to get the eggs back, yet his flock was starting to think about letting them go. Since they can't verbally communicate with each other, their ideas and thoughts remain locked in their heads until they act them out.

The pigs trailed nonchalantly behind, trying their best not to hold anyone back. King Pig wondered what they were going to do when they get out of this mess, clearly there weren't much options since the eggs were out of the equation. Seeing that his fellow pigs had gotten a hold of the eggs, he wasn't expecting them to share once they cook and eaten them.

The group followed the pig tracks and soon found themselves walking out of the woods and into a large open savanna, over at the distance they were able to see a small castle sitting in the middle of the savanna. It appeared pig designed and there were lights pouring out through some of the windows, there were signs of life inside and the trail runs straight through the front door.

When they approached the castle, the birds expected a major response. There was none, no one to announce their arrival. Eventually when they approached the front door, they found it unlocked. Red Bird simply pushed it open, revealing a flight of stairs and two doors behind it. The group walked inside and King Pig shuts and locked the door, thinking that The Taken might had followed them and were ready to strike at the right moment.

They all walked up the stairs and down a hall before reaching the far end, they walked through the door at the end and found themselves in some sort of L-shaped living room. There was a couch, an HDTV screen, a portable radio sitting on a crate up against the wall, and a horizontal shelf full of books and flashlights at the far back. Despite the medieval construction theme of the castle, it had modern equipment and utilities inside.

Red Bird's flashlight glazed the back wall, he saw what appeared to be more graffiti written in light-sensitive paint. A message, written in big eye-catching capital letters, revealed itself: "BEWARE OF THE TAKEN BIRDS!" it reads. Surrounding the message was detailed artwork, so detailed that it would be mistaken as a photograph.

One painting showed a slingshot, covered in darkness as familiar birds took turns flinging themselves off of it. These birds had shadows covering their bodies, instead of angry eyes they were evil, completed with a sinister grin. Another painting showed of a green pig laying face down on the ground, a timber ax was lodged into its back. The pig laid in a pool of blood as flies landed on it, injecting their eggs into the rotting flesh of the carcass.

The artwork was so disturbing that Red Bird turned his flashlight off, without the light the graffiti vanished, showing no trace of its presence at all. Wanting to eliminate the horror from his eyes, Red Bird walked up to the radio and turned it on.

"It's clear skies tonight," said Pat Maine on the radio, "Temperature is hovering around the mid forties at the moment, if your planning to take a step outside for fresh air make sure you're wearing something warm and have a cup of coffee in hand."

I'm not planning to go outside at all, Pat. thought Red Bird.

"Look's like we got another caller," said Pat "Hello, caller. You are now on KBFM."

"Hi Pat, its Mr. Randolph," said the caller.

"Hello, Paul. What're up to tonight?"

"I'm a bit steamed right now, and no, its not from the bad leg this time. Kids had released their creativity on one of my trailers by spray-painting a green pig from that Angry Birds app game. They left behind a carton full of chicken eggs underneath their artwork to amplify the mood, and I can tell you I'm not in it at the moment."

"Hrm, maybe the kids were the same ones who made that Red Bird graffiti at GameStop."

"I already e-mailed Deputy Mulligan about it, but I'm going to need more help with this problem. I'm going to see about getting a paint crew over to fix this and keep a closer eye on everything, this just gotta end somewhere."

"Well I hope you do well Paul. Just to let you know, you're not the only one who had this problem."

"Thanks Pat, Good night."

Paul hanged up the phone and Pat went on talking, "Ah, here's a little song that might help you get through the night. It sounds warm and fuzzy in your ears, and might take you off edge. Sit tight listeners, and let the beat of the music take hold."

The song sounded like jazz, such music was always played around midnight. It calmed the group down as Red Bird flopped onto the couch, he let out a sigh as he tried to rest his eyes. When he does so, he felt something rub up against him. Red Bird looked up and saw one of the blue birds looking up at him. The blue bird was scared, the fear in his eyes says it all. He snuggled up to Red Bird, wanting him to hold him. Red Bird sighed and hugged him without much thought, sometimes blue birds aren't that bright at times.

Red Bird eventually sat the blue bird aside and decided to go look around, to the looks of things, the pigs who took the bird's eggs aren't here. No sign of them anywhere. Had the Dark Presence taken them? No, the castle wouldn't have survive such an act as the birds and pigs earlier learned. Signs of their sudden arrival and departure was in the kitchen, it was a mess, thankfully no signs of broken eggs whatsoever. The pigs must have taken them. Normally, Red Bird would be frustrated, but the dark things he had faced took his energy to produce anger.

When he rejoined the group back upstairs, a loud thump vibrated throughout the outer walls, then another, and another. They were perfectly timed, each thump a few seconds apart. The group looked out the windows and were horrified to what they saw.

A slingshot had been erected outside the castle, it was bleeding shadows like crazy. Near the slingshot were birds, familiar birds part of the Angry Birds team. Not exactly different species but duplicates of themselves in a human sense, and there were more than one duplicate. All the birds were shrouded in protective dark cocoons, indeed the message on the wall had warned the group about the Taken Birds, and here they are.

A bird got onto the slingshot, and launched itself. As it arks through the air and towards the castle, leaving a trail of darkness behind. The group quickly turned on their flashlights and watched as the bird went through the window. It was a canary, and it seemed to be jittery. The group shined their flashlights that the bird Taken and kept it pinned-down, once the darkness flashed off its body it quickly vanished a second later.

Another bird crashed through another window, glass flies everywhere as it landed on the ground in a thud. This ones a cardinal, it appeared to be more aggressive. As the birds shined the bird Taken, it tried to ram one of the group members. It missed, and it was soon eradicated.

Once that bird vanished, another Taken came flying in, this time it crashed through the stone brick wall and tore down a good portion of it. It was a red-tailed hawk, it proved a little difficult to kill due to its massive girth. It squawked, then attempt to bulldoze White Bird in the process. He dodged it in time, and the group was able to remove its dark shroud.

To their horror, the bird Taken didn't die. It glared at them with dark hallow eyes before it charged at them again, Red Bird barely managed to get out of the way in time before the red-tailed hawk smashed through the wall. It fell to earth and crashed into the ground, vanishing in a cloud of yellow flickers of light upon impact.

Another bird was launched, it flew over the roof and was out of sight within a couple seconds. Another second had passed before an explosion caused the ceiling to crumble, everyone got out of the way as the rubble came pouring into the room. The HDTV was knocked over and clattered onto the floor as the shelves were pulled apart by the vibrations. As dusty as it was, the group realized they cannot stay here no longer.

They quickly grabbed what they need, batteries, flares, flare guns, and better flashlights. Then they turn towards the door and ran out of the room, as it was becoming an open balcony.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

The group ran out of the castle and into the black night, shadows swirled above as the wind follows suit. How terrifying it was to see the Taken Birds, it just so happened that it wasn't just former Angry Birds members that got their attention. A huge cloud came closing in on the group, when it got closer, a thousand red pearls locked on at them. The saw squawk and caw, as the black crows came swooping over their heads. The group managed to shoo them away with their flashlight, unable to hear their own screams above theirs.

The swarm circled overhead and charged once again, Red Bird manged to focus the flare gun straight at the flock and fired, unleashing a bright red fireball straight at them. Each individual crow vanished in puffs of yellow light, feathers burned, turned to ash, their shrieks and cries pierced everyone's ears like a drill going through solid bedrock.

After running a hundred meters away from the castle, Red Bird looked back, he saw the whole castle being engulfed in shadows as pig Taken sprawled around as far the eye could see. Barely able to make out the way for the tears, the birds and pigs ran down the savanna and plunged themselves back into the forest.

. . .

The sun had peaked over the horizon, but Fred's alarm clock did the job of waking him up: "Good morning Bright Falls," said Pat Maine on the radio alarm clock, "Its seven o clock, a time where the daily business of the community officially starts. I hope you slept well last night, maybe you fell asleep when listening to my rant last night. I know I can get a bit boring sometimes, but if you slept well, then that's fine. I suppose we could start-"

Fred hit the snooze button on the alarm clock and it went dead, he pulled off the covers and stretched out his arms and legs. What a night, he thought, recalling the Taken had tried to kill him last night. Since it was stuffy inside the room, Fred puts his boots back on and made to the kitchen. He dumped a couple of slices of bread in the toaster and pushed down the lever, causing the bread slices to sink into the device. As they cook, Fred poured himself a cup of coffee from his automatic Mr. Coffee machine.

He took a sip before relaxing in his recliner, once settled in Fred turned on the HDTV and tuned in to the local news. As he watches TV, he heard something squealed outside. Fred muted the TV and got up, he peaked through the blinds of his windows and saw a green pig digging into something on his property. The toaster suddenly spat out fresh toast, Fred ignored it as he was focused on grabbing his rifle.

Once he loaded his M1 Garand, he propped his window open ajar and stuck the barrel of the rifle out the window. He aimed at the pig's head awhile lining his sights, the pig didn't feel a thing when the 30 caliber round bore through its head, scrambling his brain into mush upon impact. Fred saw the pig go down, he unlocked his front door and stepped outside to investigate the intruder.

When he approached, he noticed something awry. Fred saw that the pig had no visible limbs, it's skin was green yet it didn't appear sick. The bullet-hole he had made glistened in the sun as it oozes crimson blood, along with some charred brain matter. He nudged the pig with his foot and turned it over onto its back, one of its eyes was half open, twitching due to a nervous system response. It was nothing new to Fred, he had killed fair game and saw his share of gore.

The pig was protecting something, dragging something. Fred saw a sack near the pig, he grabbed it and opened up the mouth of the bag. Inside, he saw three turkey-size eggs inside. Odd, how could a pig carry a bag without thumbs, let alone limbs. He peered further into what the pig was into, and saw that it was digging a dinner plate size hole. It was probably going to bury the eggs, to hide it. Thoughts of Angry Birds crossed his mind, he realized his stories had successfully came true.

"The birds will come here," he said to himself, "Might as well keep the eggs on hand just in case, but what about the pig here?"

Fred decided to make the pig his dinner, since he like the taste of pork. Might as well use this idea to warn the pigs not to touch the bird's eggs, since these simple talismans is what fuels the bird's morale. Without it, the point of fighting on is lost.

He carried the sack of eggs back inside his trailer, then returned to retrieve the pig he'd shot. Fred went on disemboweling it and cut out the digestive track and some of the endocrine system, since they can contaminate the meat. After washing it with a garden hose, he went inside and prepared the pig on a plate, then stuck it in the oven. Within hours, porky here would be very tasty.

. . .

The birds and pigs walked on, albeit slowly. Having to had spent an entire night on the run, they were tired, hungry, and thirsty. At this time of the year, there was little resources to go around. The local animals had stripped all of the fruits and berries attached to fruiting plants, Mother Nature destroyed what they had missed including that edible yellow-head dandelion weed. If they were still around, it would serve as emergency food.

Their bellies grumbled as they approach a stream, it was flowing fast, and so the group took turns and let the water pour into their mouths. After drinking the water for quite some time, the group was fully re-hydrated and continued on.

They walked for a while until they smelled something cooking, literally, it smelled like bacon. The group followed the scent and made their way into a clearing where they got a sight of something, a trailer. It looked rather fortified, but what caught their eye is the torch symbol that was painted on the front of the trailer, being illuminated by the sunlight. Without much thought, the group head towards the trailer and approach the front door.

Fred heard a knock on his front door, since he wasn't expecting any visitors he became a bit suspicious. He walked over to his front door and opened it, before him were the Angry Birds and their pig enemies. They were scared, they looked like they'd never slept, and some of them were looking up at him with puppy dog eyes.

"You finally came," said Fred, "I've been waiting for you guys for quite awhile, come inside."

Fred opened up the screen door and all the birds and pigs came running in, there he offered them food and fresh water. They all were quick to devour them, Fred sat back on the recliner and watched the group ate their much needed meals.

He watched them for hours as they sleep, getting much needed rest on the couch. He looked out the window and was stunned to see that night was falling fast, the sun was now sunk halfway into the horizon. He wondered what to do with the birds and pigs, they obviously can't stay here, nor can they stay at Elderwood National Park. For Fred, he was running out of options.

A loud mournful cry stirred up the night, causing all the birds and pigs to jump up and scream as if it was the end of the world. Fred knew the Dark Presence would come after them, he had been fighting it for so long that he was on his last legs.

"I lost my brother to that thing," he told the group, "It took awhile since he put up a massive fight."

Fred turned on all the lights and told the birds and pigs about the Dark Presence, informing them on what they need to do. The solution was that they had to get out of Bright Falls, since the Dark Presence's reach was up to the Bright Falls dam. If Fred could get them far enough out of the region, they might be safe from the Dark Presence.

"I believe these belong to you, birds." said Fred as he grabbed the sack and pulled out the three eggs, the birds all looked at them in astonishment.

"If you pigs touch them," warned Fred as he approached the oven, "Then this will happen to you."

He grabbed the oven's handle and pulled the door open, the pigs squealed in shock when they saw one of their comrades was cooked inside, completed with an apple in its mouth. Fred shuts the door, then he began to feel the ground vibrate slightly. When the shaking stop, everyone heard a voice banter outside:

"Always obey... THE HUNTING LAWS! They are... for conserving THE WILD GAME, remember that its nearly RABBIT SEASON!"

"Taken," said Fred as he pulled out his gun, "They always come at some parts of the night."

He went and grabbed his Heavy-Duty spotlight from the bedroom, then returned back to the Angry Birds group, "Stay here," he said, "Don't leave, this place is safe."

When Fred opened the front door, he tried in brain to process the horror he saw before him. He had been fighting the Dark Presence for so long, but he has yet to see its full power. Before he could react, the darkness outside knocked out every light in the trailer before come charging in, everything went black but Fred could still hear. The last thing he had heard were the screaming of the birds and pigs.

Realizing his fate, Fred quickly draws the gun to his chin, then made sure that the Dark Presence won't take him alive.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

Weeks had past, nothing more was heard from Fred. Normally he would come by on the Wednesdays for his daily routine of stopping by, Sheriff Breaker became concerned, and so, sent Deputy Mulligan and Thornton over to his trailer to see if he was alright.

When they got there, they saw nothing out of the ordinary on the outside. They parked the squad car and got out, then they head towards the door. Mulligan rang the doorbell and waited for a few seconds for Fred to answer, a minute went by and Mulligan rang the doorbell again, still no response.

"Maybe he's not home," said Thornton, "Maybe we should come back later."

"His truck is in the garage," said Mulligan as he pointed to the garage, Thornton turned and saw the utility truck in the garage, "We'll wait for thirty minutes, then we'll barge in."

Half an hour past as the deputies sat on the small concrete doorstep, waiting for Fred to show up. No one arrived to show their face, Mulligan was soon getting impatient. "Okay, f#ck this." grumbled Mulligan as he opened the screen door.

When he grabbed the doorknob, he accidentally pushed the door open. Even though Mulligan was checking to see if it was unlocked, it still surprised him to find it unlocked, Fred usually locks his doors. When he peered inside, Mulligan saw the carnage inside. "Good lord," he said when he got a whiff of foul air, "Thornton, come look at this."

The deputies walked inside the trailer and into a carnage, "This is a mess," said Thornton, "Looks like somebody had a wrestling match, and it reeks in here."

Among the trashed mobile home, Mulligan noticed random colored feathers lying all over the place. It made no sense, Fred never kept any pet birds nor were there any birds nearby who had these colors. The presence of blood at the nearby wall hinted someone had been hurt, "Thornton," said Mulligan, "Watch the door, I'm going to see what else is here."

"Okay Mulligan," said Thornton, "Be careful."

Mulligan placed his hand on his service revolver as he checked the rooms for signs of life, the bedroom appeared untouched, the bathroom was clean enough. What he found interesting was Fred's office, a chair had been positioned in the center of the room, and on it were manuscript pages. "Hey Thornton," said Mulligan, "The coast is clear, I think I found something."

Thornton came walking into the study, "What did you find Mulligan?" asked Thornton.

Mulligan went through the pages, skimming through each one. The pages contained scenarios that are considered to be supernatural or horror genres, it also contained Angry Bird characters. Since the manuscript was in a position for someone like the deputies to find, they seem to explain what had happened. "Angry Birds," said Mulligan, "The graffiti in town, the feathers lying all over the floor, whatever Fred had been through probably met his demise."

"You think we could find his body nearby?" asked Thornton.

"Before we could do anything," said Mulligan, "We'll call for backup... wait a second."

Mulligan held up a manuscript page and read it out loud:

_Awhile investigating the disappearance of Fred Dominican, Mulligan found what he had left behind in his study. He went through his manuscript, trying to make sense of it. It contained random writings, yet he found his name in one of them, explaining about his frustration with Randolph sending him an angry e-mail about vandalism in his trailer park. When he picked up the page that described him picking up the page and reading it, he heard something collapsed in the next room moments later._

Mulligan and Thornton looked at each other, the manuscript had made their minds surreal. Before either deputy said anything, something collapsed in the next room. Thornton jumped from the sound, but Mulligan kept his cool. "It sounded like it came from the main room." said Mulligan as he sat down the manuscript pages.

The deputies head out into the main room where they saw a horrifying sight. The fridge door was wide open, on the ground was Fred Dominican's body, among him were the bodies of birds and pigs. All of the corpses had been preserved by the fridge, so the smell was coming from their bowels being relaxed. Thornton nearly lost his breakfast, Mulligan didn't know how to react.

"Let's get backup," said Mulligan, "Contact Sarah, let her know what we found."

"Okay Mulligan," said Thornton, "By the way, what are those things with Fred here?"

Mulligan gulped as he barely croaked out the words: "Angry Birds."

**THE END!**


End file.
